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Cameron Stauch

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Hanoi, Vietnam

Cameron Stauch is a Canadian chef currently living in Hanoi, Vietnam. During the last decade, Cameron has had the good fortune to eat and work in kitchens throughout Asia and North America. His travels have enabled him to investigate a variety of cuisines and acquire an array of culinary techniques.

When living in Canada, Cameron cooks for the Governor General of Canada, where he features Canadian heritage ingredients to create dishes and menus that represent Canada's varied cultural communities. He has shared Canada's delicious culinary landscape with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth & the Duke of Edinburgh; the Prince of Wales & the Duchess of Cornwall; the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge; the Emperor & Empress of Japan; and many other foreign dignitaries, international business leaders, and fellow Canadians.

His early travels throughout Asia helped him recognize that, in many parts of the world, some of the best cooks are not found in professional kitchens. He happily searches and works with traditional home cooks to develop a mutual understanding and tutorship in their respective cuisines.

These encounters and travels have strongly influenced his cooking style, of bringing world flavors to the table. He prefers to cook globally but source locally.

Presently, he is eating and cooking his way around Southeast Asia in search of cooks and producers who are focused on preserving and enriching their local culinary ingredients and traditions.

Articles by Author

One major takeaway from Terra Madre 2014 was that that despite the unique culture and traditions that exist within indigenous communities across the world, we are all united by an undeniable web of interconnectedness.

Over and over again during the five-day event, you could see people bridging gaps and forging relationships over the ties that bind us, namely food and how it shapes communities and cultures.

Turin, Italy, was the site in late October of Slow Food’s Terra Madre, a biennial, global event. With a focus on indigenous communities and farmers, some 158 global food communities gathered to exchange ideas on sustainable agriculture, fishing and breeding with the goal of preserving taste and biodiversity.

It was powerful to witness this discovery of interconnectedness that exists despite the distances that separate various indigenous communities. Norman Chibememe, a farmer from Zimbabwe, said that before coming to Terra Madre he thought he was alone in the challenges he regularly encounters at home. “I’ve learned from my new friends from half way around the world that they, too, are working with the same challenges. I am going home with some new ideas of how to change things in my community,” Chibememe said.

Terra Madre unites people from across the globe

During workshops in the Indigenous Terra Madre salon and conversations at country stalls, people from indigenous communities engaged with each other and the public through a vibrant exchange of stories about the problems they face in their respective countries. A French couple I spoke with came to Terra Madre specifically to speak with delegates from African countries confronting security or health challenges. Unable to travel themselves to all the countries affected, Terra Madre gave them the opportunity to get an insider’s view on how food issues are affected by such conditions.

Participants were also surprised to discover non-food cultural similarities despite living on different continents. A Moroccan woman who produces argan oil stopped two young Sami women who had just arrived from their home in the Arctic to share her astonishment how certain elements of their traditional dresses were like those of the Amazigh people, also known as Berbers, of North Africa. From the color of their clothes to the threading used to the geometric patterns on their ankle coverings being identical to those used in making traditional Amazigh rugs, the similarities were striking.

This was the fifth visit to Terra Madre for Susana Martinez, a yacón farmer from Argentina who is proud to share her knowledge of this crisp, sweet-tasting tuber, also called a Peruvian ground apple, with those outside of Argentina. A farmer from Venezuela whose community has virtually lost all knowledge of how to work with yacón met Martinez and invited her to his region to teach younger farmers how to grow and process the plant. Shea Belahi, a farmer from Illinois who is looking for new crops to grow on her farm and is intrigued about the properties of yacón — it has low sugar levels, making it suitable for diabetics — discussed the growing conditions needed for yacon with Martinez. As she walked away, Martinez said these interactions are the magic of Terra Madre. They “help me in knowing that someone else cares about what I do,” she said.

The wealth of knowledge and the challenges faced by indigenous communities and global farmers, such as climate change, land-grabbing and resource management, were at the forefront of the five-day event and provided visitors the opportunity to gain new perspectives on issues concerning indigenous people around the world.

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The Northeast Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS) booth serves as a part of the Indian Slow Food Delegation. Credit: Cameron Stauch

Phrang Roy, director of the North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society, or NESFAS, discussed the need for a more inclusive approach that treats the custodians of traditional knowledge and modern-day researchers as equal and diverse knowledge holders. He said more than 350 million indigenous people populate the globe — a greater number than the population of Europe — and they form “a community of people connected to the land, with their own systems of connecting to nature. Basically, they are all agronomists.”

He announced that NESFAS, in partnership with Slow Food and the Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty, would be hosting the second Indigenous Terra Madre 2015 next fall in Megahalaya in northeast India, a region on the border of Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Under the theme of “The Future We Want: Indigenous Perspectives, Indigenous Activities,” the event plans to bring together representatives from more than 300 indigenous communities to showcase indigenous knowledge of local food systems and preserve biodiversity within their regions and discuss how to bring their knowledge and vision of food production into modern times.

The infectious energy, friendships and networks developed by the indigenous people and farmers at Terra Madre 2014 demonstrate there is an appetite for change growing among these communities and a global momentum to safeguard their wealth of diverse flavors and cultural knowledge to create a better world.

Main photo: An Indonesian delegate shares her knowledge about Indonesian teas and spices with public workshop participants. Credit: Cameron Stauch

“Can we have phở for dinner?” my son asked as he arrived home from school. A loud sneeze followed by a few sniffles and a wipe of his nose with his shirt’s sleeve confirmed cold season’s arrival in his class.

Chicken noodle soup was our go-to comfort meal when a family member was sick, but now, living in Hanoi, the easy access to phở gà, Vietnam’s own chicken-and-rice-noodle soup, has replaced that.

Cold season has provided another opportunity to taste my way through the stalls that dot Hanoi, the birthplace of phở, and gather information on what makes the best phở gà, pronounced “feu gah.” Emerging out of a time of hardship when cooks began to use chicken because of a beef shortage during World War II, the recipe continues to evolve, integrating modern influences.

Phở bò, beef rice noodle soup, may be more well known, but the devoted fans of phở gà I spoke with believe the chicken version has more subtle flavors that shouldn’t be masked by the addition of spices, as in the beef version. Preparing a delicious bowl of phở gà requires patience and the right ingredients. A vendor who has been making phở gà for 24 years summed it up best: “We are all using the same ingredients, but the real skill is the technique you use and knowing how the broth should taste when it is ready.”

Vendors have loyal followings that span generations. While sampling one of my bowls of phở gà, I struck up a conversation with my dining neighbor, a 38-year-old office worker, who told me he’s been coming to the vendor since he was a little boy. Whenever he returns to Hanoi from a work trip, his first meal is from his favorite phở vendor. Similarly, an elderly woman at another stall recalled when the cook started working with his parents. She said she believes the minerals and proteins in phở gà bring good health. Finishing her bowl, she mentioned that she tries “to eat here three or four days a week. Cook Hai’s phở gà gives me energy to do my daily activities and continues to keep me healthy.”

What makes the best phở gà? Here’s a look at the key elements that contribute to making a superlative bowl.

The chicken

The cooks with the most devoted followers and busiest stalls insist that free-range chickens produce chewy meat and the best-flavored broth. Since 1978, the proprietor of Anh Hai Phở Gà has been filling bowls of his delicious broth in the Truc Bach district. It is becoming harder for him to find a consistent, reliable source of free-range chickens. He’s noticed a dip in business the last few years and believes his customers taste the difference when he has had to substitute with inferior poultry.

The broth

Cooks and diners all agree the clarity and taste of the broth is what sets apart a superior bowl of phở from an average one. A clear broth with great depth of flavor is most desired. Hanoian cooks prefer not to add rock sugar as their southern counterparts do. Interestingly, the majority of cooks quietly indicated that they use some pork leg bones in the broth because they believe it produces a naturally sweeter-tasting broth. It also adds additional gelatin to the broth, allowing the flavors to linger on the lips longer. This recent change in vendors’ large-batch recipes may also be connected to the bird flu epidemic in 2005. Chicken continues to cost more, and the use of pork bones helps keep prices low for customers.

The garnish

Unlike in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where phở sellers like to add bean sprouts and offer a plate of herbs as a garnish, northern cooks and eaters prefer simple garnishes of briefly blanched whites of scallions with a generous sprinkling of the thinly sliced scallion greens and coriander. You may occasionally come across a vendor with some thinly sliced Thai basil in the mix. During the last decade, some vendors started to add a good pinch of thinly sliced lime leaf to bring a pleasant citrusy fragrance and flavor to the dish.

Whether you choose to prepare a Hanoi version of phở gà or garnish it as your favorite nearby Vietnamese restaurant does, be sure to select a free-range chicken and take care in preparing the broth. Not matter what, it will be good for your health and soul.

Hanoi Chicken Noodle Soup (Phở gà)

The key to making a clear chicken broth is not to boil the chicken and bones. Instead, cook the broth at a very gentle simmer. Depending on the size of the chicken, this recipe may leave you with some extra cooked chicken. I use it to make a couple of sandwiches or salads for lunch. Similarly, if you are cooking for a couple or a family of four, freeze any leftover stock (and any leftover chicken) in either 2-cup or 4-cup portions. It will save you much time when you feel the need for a quick, reinvigorating bowl of Hanoi chicken noodle soup. All you’ll need to do is rehydrate some noodles and quickly assemble the garnish.

Prep time: 25 minutes, much of it done during cooking

Cook time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Total time: 1 hour, 35 minutes

Yield: Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

3½ to 4 pounds whole skin-on chicken

3½ quarts water

2 teaspoons salt

8 Asian shallots or 3 French shallots

2-inch piece of ginger, skin on

1 14-ounce package of banh pho noodles (also called rice sticks)

1 tablespoon fish sauce

8 scallions

¼ cup fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, roughly chopped

2 kaffir lime leaves, rib removed and thinly sliced

1 lime, cut into 6 wedges

2 Thai red chilis, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Cut the tips of the wings and whole legs off the chicken and place, along with the body, in a 5½ quart pot. Add the water and salt and bring to a simmer over a medium-high heat. After about 15 minutes scum will start to rise to the surface. Use a ladle to carefully skim off the scum for the next five minutes. When the water begins to simmer, turn the heat down to low. Skim off any remaining scum and discard. Partially cover the pot and gently simmer for another 25 minutes.

2. While the chicken simmers, put a small wire grilling rack on top of a gas burner. Place the shallots and ginger on the rack and turn the burner on medium high to char the shallot and ginger skins. Use tongs to rotate the shallots and ginger until all of the outside is charred (about 4 to 5 minutes for shallots; 5 to 7 minutes for ginger).

3. Alternatively, turn the broiler of the oven on and place the shallots and ginger on a baking sheet. Put the baking sheet on the level closest to the top heating element. Cook for 5 minutes or until the shallot and ginger skins are charred. Turn the shallots and ginger over and cook for another 5 minutes or until the rest of them are charred.

4. Set aside the charred shallots and ginger on a plate to cool for a few minutes.

5. Use your hands to rub off the skins of the shallots and a paring knife to scrape off the skin from the ginger. Briefly rinse the shallots and ginger under running water to remove any remaining black bits. Cut the ginger in half lengthwise and set aside with the shallots.

6. Turn off the burner for the broth. Uncover and remove the chicken legs and body and place in a large bowl to cool for 15 minutes or until you can easily handle with your hands. Pull off the skin from the breasts and legs and discard. Remove the meat from each side of the breastbone in two whole pieces and set aside. Remove the meat from the legs in large chunks and set aside with the breast meat.

7. Put the carcass, bones, shallots and ginger into the broth. Bring the broth back to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Reduce to low and cook for 30 minutes.

8. Place the rice noodles in a large bowl and cover by 1 inch with hot water. Allow the noodles to hydrate and soften for 20 minutes. Drain in a colander.

9. Fill a medium-sized pot with water and bring to a simmer over high heat.

10. Remove the bones, shallots and ginger and discard. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into another pot. Stir in the fish sauce and keep warm over low heat.

11. Cut the white/light green parts of the scallions into 2-inch pieces. Set aside.

12. Thinly slice the green part of the scallion and mix with the coriander in a small bowl and set aside.

13. Cut the chicken into thin slices and set aside.

14. When the water begins to simmer, add the white parts of the scallion, cook for 10 seconds and remove using a slotted spoon or Chinese wire spider. Set aside.

15. Place the noodles in the water and cook for 15 seconds. Drain the noodles and immediately divide equally into six large soup bowls. Place some slices of chicken and a few pieces of the blanched scallion on top of the noodles. Garnish with a generous pinch of scallion greens and coriander. Place a pinch of sliced lime leaf in the center of the bowl.

16. Pour two cups of broth over the chicken and noodles and serve with the lime wedges and chili slices.

Note: Many Vietnamese cooks and eaters prefer to leave the skin on the sliced chicken.

Although it has been a while since I set foot in a formal classroom, each year at this time, with the beginning of school fast approaching, I tend to think about new skills I can learn or old ones I can improve upon. It seemed fitting, then, that I recently received an email from a friend asking which cookbook he should purchase to help him become a better cook.

For me, the choice was quick and easy: Anne Willan’s classic cookbook “La Varenne Pratique.” Ever since I acquired it on my first day of chef’s school 18 years ago, it’s been my go-to resource whenever I’ve needed to reference a cooking technique or learn more about a specific ingredient.

The original volume, weighing close to 5 pounds, was published in 1989 and has sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide. Thankfully, this essential book, long out of print and challenging to find in a secondhand store, was recently reissued as an e-book.

During the first half of her 30-plus years running the legendary France-based cooking school La Varenne, Willan, a Zester Daily contributor, and her staff continuously researched and wrote about essential French cooking techniques and the importance of understanding every aspect of an ingredient. The laborious effort of distilling all this culinary information resulted in a 528-page tome that provides in-depth knowledge of how to choose, store, identify and handle ingredients. This knowledge of good ingredients is paired with clear, encouraging instructions and action photos of foundational cooking techniques, such as how to dice an onion, fillet a fish or prepare different types of meringues.

Willan’s cookbook goes beyond the surface

Many cookbooks these days take us on a wonderful culinary journey, tasting a region’s or country’s culture and table, yet only provide us with a fixed GPS map of how to get to the finished dish. When you get to a point in your culinary journey where you want to veer off course and understand why certain time-honored gustatory routes are so adored, “La Varenne Pratique” is the culinary guidebook to help you navigate your or any country’s kitchen.

The new e-book has been sliced and diced into four parts, each sold separtely. Part 1: The Basics discusses herbs and seasonings; soups; stocks; and sauces, as well as eggs, dairy and oils; Part 2 covers meat, poultry, fish and game; Part 3 examines vegetables, pasta, pulses and grains; and Part 4 dishes on our sweet tooth with baking, preserving, desserts, fruits, nuts and freezing. Each part also comes with a weight-and-measurement table (worth bookmarking for regular reference), list of cooking equipment, glossary of cooking terms and bibliography.

Because the book was written before the advent of modernist cooking, it does not include these techniques. However, if this is an area that interests you, I am sure Willan would recommend you check out her onetime student Nathan Myhrvold’s exhaustive six-volume series, “Modernist Cuisine.”

Having used the e-book version on both an iPad and laptop for the past month, I can vouch that the electronic version is reliable when adapting to different formats and layouts. Simply adjusting the font size or page orientation offers you a variety of almost personalized layouts. Because the images are scans of the original book and not high-resolution digital photographs, they can be enlarged only to a certain point. This is not much of a problem, as the images are large and easy to view.

How to purchase

The e-book version of “La Varenne Pratique” can be purchased through many major online retailers, including iTunes, Amazon, Sony, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Copia. Each of the four parts is $6.99.

The greatest challenge I’ve encountered is using the search function. In this day and age where we type anything into a search engine and get countless results, using an e-book’s search function can initially frustrate. If you type in a technique such as “how to cut up a chicken,” zero results show up. However, if you are more specific and type “cutting a bird in pieces” the exact result pops up. I’ve found eliminating the term “how to” and being more direct with your keywords drastically increases the likelihood of getting precise hits. It’s also just as easy to simply thumb through a section’s e-pages to find the specific subject you’re searching for.

Aside from the comprehensive information about ingredients, the best thing about this book is the countless technique shots that teach you lifelong, fundamental cooking skills. It would be fantastic to have a single website that aggregates all the “how-to” photo instructions “La Varenne Pratique” demonstrates as videos. But until someone invests the time and money to produce those videos, you will need to visit many websites to find all this information.

Simply put, “La Varenne Pratique” is a cooking school in a book, and certainly cheaper than tuition. It is the best gift you could give a new culinary student, a child heading to college, a newly married couple or your friend who writes a food blog. Fortunately, the e-book version is both lightweight and affordable and will not take up much space or weight in their culinary backpack.

Main photo: Anne Willan’s “La Varenne Pratique” is now available as an e-book. Willan photo by Siri Berting; e-book photo by Cameron Stauch

Home away from home. World Cup fans can think back to the lands of their ancestors and use food to recall family memories. But what happens when you’ve moved overseas, specifically to Asia? Inevitably one of the first lists you start is the food you need to pack so you can bring that “taste of home” with you. For my wife, a specific brand of tea tops the list.

We have moved to major tea-producing countries in recent years, includingChina and India, yet she insists on bringing a stash of her favorite tea, arguing the tea bags of the same brand in our new home are simply not the same. And I have to admit, she has a point — manufacturers use different formulas for the same product to cater to local preferences and tastes.

I can guarantee that in the luggage of most expats moving between countries is some food item. These products often reveal a glimpse of the simple things that matter in your life, things you feel you cannot live without. Among your clothing purchases, hard-to-find toiletries and other belongings, there’s a treasure trove of goodies, such as wine gumdrops, marshmallow Peeps, Easter chocolates or your family’s homemade preserves or chutneys.

As you unpack your shipment, you may wonder what made you decide to bring certain items. One friend shared how puzzled she was that she had purchased a large quantity of Rice Krispies and marshmallows, as she did not regularly eat either. A few months later, she realized she thought she would have a regular craving for Rice Krispies squares.

As you settle into a new country, exploring local food markets and tasting new dishes are invaluable ways to learn about the culture and place you now call home. As exciting as this is, it can be a challenge for many to eat unfamiliar foods at every meal.

During the early days of what can be a stressful transition, or when you have a bout of homesickness, it’s natural to turn to the food that nourishes your soul, that you feel keeps you centered and provides you with the comfort of “home.”

Expats look to friends, family to deliver their favorites

When family or friends visit, they become food mules, transporting ingredients you can use to prepare a treasured dish. Sometimes they may be hesitant, as my Mexican friend explained when she shared the difficulty of acquiring freshly ground masa because relatives were concerned immigration authorities would think it was cocaine.

Others will go to great lengths. I was privileged to share a meal at a friend’s house of “imported” Canadian beef that was frozen, wrapped in newspaper and packed in a visitor’s luggage for the 24-hour trip. It arrived fully frozen.

In talking with my expat friends, I’ve discovered that the longer you live overseas, the smaller and more focused your must-have food list becomes. It’s not that your cravings disappear. Many are simply satisfied on vacations or trips home. Rather, as expats, we learn to adapt our wants, finding somewhat suitable substitutes and becoming more resourceful or simply making do. You also learn that the limited space in your (or your mules’) luggage is valuable and reserved only for prized essentials.

Although more specialty shops are opening with a limited selection of imported goods, allowing expats to more easily access essentials like olive oil, olives, cured meats, cheeses, chocolate and occasionally specialty grains and flours, often the products are of average quality, sometimes stale and cost anywhere from two to five times the price you pay at home. Another challenge is they are not regularly stocked, and when they are sold out it may not be available for another few months or longer.

It’s that time of year when many of you are in a state of transition and thinking about what to bring with you to your new home. Apart from reading expat blogs or talking to acquaintances who have lived in your new country, the best resource to find out what staple ingredients are available is to consult a cookbook about the food of the country you are moving to. A quick read of the glossary and pantry section will give you a good idea of items you can easily and affordably purchase.

Below is a list of what I like to call “expat pantry essentials” — items either hard to find or that tend to be really expensive when living in Asia. Use it as a guide to help you focus your needs as you prepare for your move overseas and so you don’t question why you bought it when you finally unpack.

Expat pantry essentials

Baking essentials

The greatest complaint I hear from expats is that their baking recipes do not work. Sometimes it has to do with poor-quality ovens, but I think most of the time it has do with the ingredients. Baking powder can be bought virtually everywhere, but the chemical composition of the ones overseas can be quite different than the ones you may be used to.

Baking powder

Baking soda

Real vanilla extract

Dry yeast

Chocolate chips (cut-up chocolate bars are great alternatives.)

Dried fruits (specifically currants, cranberries, pears, apples)

Food coloring/dyes for icing

Sprinkles for decorating cakes

Spices

Coriander, cumin, cinnamon, black pepper, turmeric and cardamom are generally available. If they are only found whole, they can easily be ground to make a powder. The spices and spice blends below are much harder to find.

Chilies may not seem an obvious choice, but each chili has its own unique flavor profile. This is particularly important when trying to make dishes with a Latin American flavor.

Chipotle chilies in adobo sauce or dried

Jalapeño chilies in brine

Dried chilies from the southern U.S., Mexico, Latin America and India

Grains, pulses and specialty flours

These items tend to be much more expensive than in your home country, especially if they are organic. When not regularly purchased by other expats, there is a greater chance of them sitting on the shelf becoming stale.

Quinoa

Farro

Freekah

Flax seeds (whole or ground)

Chia seeds

Hemp seeds

Pulses/lentils (Du Puy lentils, urad dal, black beans)

Rye flour

Bean and nut flours (chickpea, hazelnut, chestnut)

Masa

Gluten-free flour mixes

Bottled products

Red, white, and balsamic vinegars are available. Specialty vinegars are not. Natural syrups are much more expensive. You may be able to find one or the other with marmite and vegemite, but lovers of each will tell you they are not the same. Scandinavians need the occasional taste of pickled fish.

Pomegranate molasses

White balsamic vinegar

Apple cider vinegar

Maple syrup

Agave syrup

Molasses

Natural peanut butter (low sugar; but a homemade version can easily be made)

Marmite

Vegemite

Herring

Coffee and specialty teas

A comforting, familiar cup of coffee or tea each morning often helps prepare you for the challenges ahead in your day. Bringing your favorite from home eases the daily transitions.

Coffee (specialty/decaffeinated)

Rooibos tea

Preferred tea brands from home

Herbal teas

Specialty alcohol and bitters

Traditional liquors such as vodka, gin, rum, bourbon and cognac are typically available. National liquors such as aquavit, arak, pisco, schnapps, slivovitz, tequila or bitters will be much harder to find. A packed bottle or two and duty-free purchases are typical for the expat.

Seeds for vegetables and herbs

Small seed packets of hard-to-find vegetables such as kale, Swiss chard, assorted lettuces or Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, lavender, sage, tarragon and Italian parsley are invaluable if you have an area to plant a small garden because it will be rare to find such ingredients in local markets.

Main photo: Expats often pack their suitcases full of their favorite foods from home. Credit: Cameron Stauch

This is most likely the best and easiest snack prepared on the grill that you’ve never heard of. Although it’s a favorite after-school treat of Vietnamese youths, I can guarantee that once you have mastered this simple recipe your adult friends will swarm your barbecue as they sip on their beers and cocktails.

Bánh tráng nướng, rice paper grilled over coals and lightly topped with a variety of ingredients, is a relatively new snack to hit the streets of Vietnam’s major cities. It apparently originated in the hill town of Dalat before making its way to Ho Chi Minh City a few years ago and then spreading upwards to the center and north of the country.

The epicenter of bánh tráng nướng vendors in Ho Chi Minh City at the moment is found around Ho Con Rua, or Turtle Lake, a busy roundabout in the city’s third district, whereas just a few vendors can be found within the old citadel in Hue and from my knowledge there is just one in Hanoi.

Street food vendors create inventive and tasty treats

While the outer sidewalk of Turtle Lake is crowded with cafes and restaurants, the inner sidewalk hosts young and creative street vendors dishing out their own variations of grilled rice paper and a few other inventive treats, including bánh tráng trộn, an addictive and mouthwatering mélange of half-inch fingers of rice paper, shredded green mango, dried shrimp, beef or squid, herbs, peanuts, fried shallots and their cooking oil, hard-boiled quail eggs, squirts of calamansi lime, drizzles of annatto seed oil and/or fish sauce; or bánh trứng nướng, in which quail eggs are fried in a round mold with triangle compartments then topped with tiny dried shrimp, sliced sausage (a Vietnamese version of the Chinese Lap Cheong), green onions and fried shallots and then covered to cook for a few minutes before being plated and finished with some sprigs of Vietnamese coriander and chili sauce. Hồ lô nướng, skewered and grilled pork and sausage balls, and bắp xào, stir-fried corn kernels made to your liking, are also prepared by surrounding vendors.

The basic Ho Chi Minh City version of bánh tráng nướng tends to be a spoon of cooked ground pork, sliced green onions and a cracked quail egg spread evenly over rice paper and toasted over the heat of a grill. After a few minutes, when it is no longer translucent, it is drizzled with a sriracha-style chili sauce and folded in half.

The Dalat version is more elaborately prepared on a thicker rice paper; it features a cracked chicken egg topped pizza style with slices of sausage, tiny dried shrimp, assorted cooked seafood, green onions and cheese. My favorite, and the recipe I share below, is the first version I tasted when visiting Hue.

A few simple rules need to be followed to achieve a well-toasted, flavorful treat that doesn’t fall apart during cooking. First, it’s best to grill the rice paper gradually over a medium-heat charcoal barbecue. A gas-flamed barbecue will do, but keep away from the flames so as not to burn the edges of the rice paper. If you are also grilling the main course, you’ll want to set aside part of the grill for the rice paper and cook them short-order style, one or two at a time.

ricepaper2

Second, a simple tablespoon or two of flavorful toppings is all that is required. With too much, the paper may break under the weight. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, make sure not too much egg is spread on the rice paper because it will make it soggy and prevent it from properly toasting or remaining crisp.

Once you have mastered the cooking technique, I encourage you to play around by adding different toppings, remembering they should be dry, or relatively free of moisture, and customize the flavor profile to your own or your guests’ preferences.

Don’t be surprised if this addictive crunchy snack becomes a staple this barbecue season.

Grilled Rice Paper With Paté, Quail Egg and Chili Sauce

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

12 (8-inch) round rice paper

6 ounces coarse country-style paté

¾ cup thinly sliced spring onions

12 quail eggs

Sweet chili sauce, such as sriracha

Directions

Place a sheet of rice paper onto a plate or tray and top with 1 tablespoon each of paté and spring onions.

Crack a quail egg over the paté. Using the back of a spoon or knife, spread the mixture evenly over the entire surface of the rice paper.

Place the rice paper onto the grill, positioning it over a spot where the charcoal is of a consistent medium heat. Use a pair of tongs to rotate the rice paper as you see and hear parts of it toasting.

After a few minutes, when the rice paper is no longer translucent, drizzle some chili sauce on top.

Fold the grilled rice paper in half and serve.

Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Note: If quail eggs cannot be found, this can also be done with chicken eggs. Scramble two eggs in a small bowl and replace each quail egg with just 2 teaspoons of uncooked, scrambled egg.

One of the first indicators of spring’s emergence is a visit to your local farmers market, and being greeted with fresh, vibrant stalls overflowing with farmed and foraged spring green vegetables such as asparagus, fiddleheads, ramps and pea shoots. For me living in Vietnam or for shoppers at Asian and Latin grocers, abundant displays of green mangoes signify spring’s arrival and that summer’s heat is rapidly approaching.

Unlike the short-lived availability of delicate spring vegetables, the green mango season lasts several months — from April to September depending on where the mangoes are from. Mangoes are cultivated in tropical and subtropical locales from South Florida to Central America to South and Southeast Asia. Ripe mangoes are prized for their sweet, fragrant flesh, but the inclusion of a green mango in a recipe brings a crisp tartness to the plate.

My North American and European friends in Asia rave about the ambrosia of a perfectly ripe mango, yet too many are unfamiliar with the numerous ways a green mango can be transformed. In places such as India and the Caribbean, green mangoes are often used to prepare chutneys, spiced pickles or tart sauces. They are also add a touch of sourness to regional curry dishes.

Green mangoes commonly used in India

In India, green mangoes are boiled or roasted, and the resulting puréed pulp is sweetened and enlivened with cumin and sometimes mint to make a refreshing, cooling drink called aam panna. Indian dishes that sometimes require additional tartness benefit from a last-minute sprinkle of amchur, dried and powdered green mango.

Southeast Asian cooks prefer to use the raw flesh in salads, often producing an addictive dish by combining a handful of sweet, sour, salty and spicy ingredients. Occasionally, a little bit of grated green mango will be added to a meat marinade because its flesh contains an enzyme that helps tenderize meat. Most recently, I have started to use it as a substitute for apples, peaches and even rhubarb in baked desserts such as crisps and pies.

Although cooks in each of these regions have found different culinary uses for green mangoes, a common sight in Latin America, India and Southeast Asia is street-food vendorsselling finger-sized lengths of green mangoes tossed with a seasoning of salt, chilies, sugar and lime prepared with and adjusted to local ingredients and tastes.

Half-ripe or under-ripe mangoes are purposely found and sold in Asian or Latin grocers. However, many of the mangoes imported to the United States that are intended to be eaten ripe are in fact under-ripe upon arrival at chain grocery stores and can still be used in a recipe calling for green mangoes, such as the Vietnamese green mango salad included in this story.

When looking for green mangoes, select fruits that are hard and firm and do not give when pressed with your thumb. Green mangoes have a uniform green skin and a pale flesh that ranges from cream to pale yellow. Likewise, the level of tartness of the flesh is dependent upon the variety of the mango.

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On your next trip to the grocer, consider how hard it must be for green mangoes to be regularly passed over for their sweet siblings. Purchase a few and discover just how versatile, flashy and delicious they can be.

Preparing and cutting the firm flesh for a salad can be quick and easy. A vegetable peeler is the best way to peel a green mango. Try to resist using the large holes of a cheese grater because it is preferable to have long, thin strands instead of short, stubby pieces.

Techniques for cutting the unripe mango

In addition, you can cut an unripe mango into matchstick-sized pieces in three ways. In my opinion, the easiest and quickest way is to use a Japanese mandoline, with the middle-sized exchangeable blade securely fastened.

The second method is to use a Southeast Asian handheld grater. The graters are multipurpose tools with a peeler on one end, a rippled blade on the other and a sharp medium-sized zester in the middle. They are perfect for julienning green mangoes, green papayas, carrots and other fruits and vegetables. They are sometimes sold in Asian grocers and are easily found at fresh-food markets throughout Asia, making a great culinary souvenir of your trip.

To cut a mango using one, hold the mango in your hand at a 45-degree angle and firmly pull the zester tool down along the flesh of the fruit. Continue this motion, regularly rotating the mango, until the majority of the flesh is removed from around the pit.

The final option is great if you do not have either of the tools needed for the other two methods. Traditionally in Asia this is done by holding the mango in one hand while cutting the flesh with the other. A safer way is to use a cutting board. Place the peeled green mango on a cutting board and starting from the bottom stem and ending at the top, make a cut all the way to the pit. Repeat this type of cut every ⅛ of an inch all the way around the mango. You will have to flip the mango over during the cutting. Use a vegetable peeler to slice the cut mango from top to bottom resulting in rustic julienned mango pieces.

Vietnamese Green Mango Salad

Although this recipe is a vegetarian salad, fish sauce can easily be used by omitting the rice vinegar, adding 2 tablespoons of fish sauce and reducing the water to 1 tablespoon. No matter what version you choose to make, first taste a piece of the mango. The variety of mango and time of the season will affect its sweetness, and you may need to adjust the amounts of lime, sugar and vinegar/fish sauce to balance the dressing. It is also recommended that you first make the crispy shallots before dressing and mixing the salad.

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients

For the mango salad:

1 green mango, peeled and cut into matchsticks

½ cup jicama, cut into matchsticks

½ red pepper, seeded and julienned

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

½ teaspoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons lime juice

¼ teaspoon salt

1 or 2 Thai red bird’s-eye chilies, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 cup Thai basil leaves, roughly cut or torn if the leaves are a large size

¼ cup coriander leaves

¼ cup mint, roughly cut or torn if leaves are a large size

2 tablespoons fried crispy shallots (see instructions below)

2 tablespoons peanuts, roasted

For the crispy shallots:

½ cup shallots

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

For the mango salad:

1. Place the green mango, jicama and red pepper in a medium-sized bowl.

2. Spoon the sugar, water, rice vinegar, soy sauce, lime juice and salt in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add and mix the chopped chilies and garlic into the dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

3. Toss the herbs into the bowl and pour the dressing over the mango mixture. Mix well.

4. Place the salad into a serving dish and garnish with the crispy shallots and peanuts.

For the crispy shallots:

The instinctive reaction to get shallots crispy is to fry them over high heat. But cooking them slowly and gradually over a medium to medium-low heat gets the best results.

1. Thinly slice the shallots across the grain to get small shallot rings. Use your fingertips to separate the rings from one another.

2. Line a plate or baking sheet with some paper towels.

3. Heat the oil in a medium-sized frying pan or wok over medium heat. Add the shallots and gently fry, stirring occasionally.

4. After about 5 minutes, some of the edges of the shallots will begin to take on some color. For the next 5 to 7 minutes, stir more regularly to move the shallots around. Once the shallots are uniformly golden brown, remove them by briefly tilting a spider or spoon against the side of the wok or pan to let any excess oil drip back into the pan. The shallots will continue to cook out of the oil, so it is best to take them out when they are a light golden brown instead of a darker color, which may make them taste bitter.

5. Place the fried shallots on the paper towels and spread them out. Over the next 5 to 10 minutes they will cool, crisp up and be ready to use.